Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion to another. It enforces the "separation of church and state". The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person's practice of their religion.

In determining weather the a governmental practice is violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause, the Courts have developed the "Lemon Test." The Lemon Test organized in the Court's 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman, is a three-pronged inquiry: 1) Does the challenged legislation or activities have a legitimate secular purpose? 2) Does the legislation or activity have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion? and 3) Does the legislation or activity excessively entangle government with religion?

Several cases that demonstrate the use of the

So who knew that when Roger Williams a Baptist leader in the 17th century coined the phrase "separation of church and state," that it what have such an impact on the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both used that phrase when arguing this same subject. .

The Lamb's Chapel case, decided on June 7, 1993, raised the issue of whether free speech principles were violated by a policy that permitted civic groups, but not religious groups, to use a public school auditorium after school hours. Lamb's Chapel, an evangelical Christian church, sought to make use of the Center Moriches Union Free School District's public school facilities after school hours. The school district, which permitted other civic groups to use the school facilities after school hours, denied the church's request because it would be utilizing the public school for a religious purpose. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the decision, and found for the religious group by the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech prohibits governments from discriminating against the expression of certain viewpoints on the basis of content.

The Court's standard for the Free Exercise Clause was that the government must demonstrate a "compelling interest," or a clear public necessity, in order to restrict religious exercise. This was established in Sherbert v. Verner in196

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